LYNN — Lynn City Hall has seen a number of new faces pulling papers over the past week for positions in city government.
While the mayoral candidates — Darren Cyr, Jared Nicholson, and Michael Satterwhite — have remained the same, incumbent members of the City Council and School Committee will be battling against an ever-expanding field of new candidates as they try to hold onto their seats.
New candidates Nicole Mcclain, Marven Hyppolite and Jose Encarnacion have pulled papers for councilor-at-large positions. All four incumbent at-large councilors — Buzzy Barton, Brian Field, Brian LaPierre and Hong Net — are running for re-election.
Mcclain, the founder of North Shore Juneteenth Association, said she is running to listen, communicate and bring the voice of the community to the table.
“As a soldier, having served 11 years in the Army National Guard with deployments to Iraq … I understood that I was there to serve for the entire country, not some,” she said. “As your at-large councilor, I plan to continue that commitment.”
She cited her roots in the city, noting that she was brought up by a single mother in the parts of Lynn that are not often heard and were not given much support throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Mcclain said that she will work to make issues that affect the majority of the community more visible and bring more transparency to city government.
“We need change — bold change — and as your councilor, I promise to be that advocate of change with you at the table,” she said.
Encarnacion said that he is “super excited” to be running again for councilor-at-large. He emigrated to the United States from the Domincan Republic as a teenager and attended North Shore Community College, before transferring to the University of Massachusetts-Boston, where he received a Bachelor’s degree in economics.
Encarnacion said that he is a good candidate because he has always been an activist in the community throughout his 38 years of living in Lynn.
“I love this city and I have a lot to offer to it,” he said. “I want to be a part of the solutions to make Lynn an even greater place for our children and the future generation. I want to be a voice for those without a voice.”
Hyppolite, who has worked in constituent services through his position with U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton’s office for the last four years, said that he is really excited to be running and to talk with members of the community about the future of Lynn.
“My current day job is to help folks in the district with the same issues I have been fighting for, including affordable housing,” he said.
Hyppolite said that he has the experience and energy to fight for Lynn residents and to involve them in the conversation to make Lynn a city that works for everyone.
New candidates for ward councilor positions included Coco Alinsug for Ward 3, a seat which is currently held by mayoral candidate and City Council President Cyr, and Natasha Megie-Maddrey for Ward 4, currently held by Richard Colucci, who is running for re-election. Megie-Maddrey also challenged Colucci for the seat two years ago, but lost.
Alinsug, born in the Philippines to a family of politicians, is a Ward 3 affirmative action officer and an elected Democratic State Committeeman representing Lynn and Essex County. Alinsug’s father, a former councilor and vice mayor of Consolacion, which is the biggest town in the province of Cebu, Philippines, told him that he hoped his son would follow in his political footsteps, Alinsug said.
“I am proud to now be able to tell my dad that his son is continuing the family legacy of service,” he said. “I might not be in the Philippines now, but I am continuing that legacy in a country halfway around the world — a country I now call home. My environment has changed, but my heart and dedication to serve has not. I inherited this dedication from my dad, my grandmother, and my forefathers who paved the way for me to enter politics.”
Alinsug is on the board of directors for the Goldfish Pond Association, a scholar to an Asian Scholarship Program, and an organizer of various events for the Filipino and AAPI communities in Massachusetts.
Megie-Maddrey is an attorney who said she wants to see change in the neighborhood. She said that she loves the city of Lynn and will fight to ensure that all the community members of Ward 4 have a voice.
“I want to see better communication to all members of the community,” she said. “I want all community members to feel welcome. We should have regular ward meetings and we should make sure that everyone feels represented.
“I want to bring your voice to City Hall, especially those voices who haven’t found the courage to speak up yet. I want to work to ensure that constituents get what they need and deserve from their elected officials.”
Incumbent ward councilors have also been seen at City Hall retrieving papers for re-election, including Wayne Lozzi of Ward 1, Rick Starbard of Ward 2, Colucci of Ward 4, Dianna Chakoutis of Ward 5, Fred Hogan of Ward 6 and John “Jay” Walsh of Ward 7.
The School Committee also has new candidates joining the race. Committee incumbents Lorraine Gately, Brian Castellanos, John Ford and Donna Coppola all pulled papers for re-election, while new candidates Rocio Mora, Eric Dugan, Tiffany Jean Magnolia (who ran unsuccessfully for the school board two years ago) and Lenny Pena retrieved their nomination papers within the past week.
